It doesn't ever occur to you, as you fashion your mask so carefully, that it will grow into your skin and graft itself, come to seem irremovable.
Claire MessudIt's the strangest thing about being human: to know so much, to communicate so much, and yet always to fall so drastically short of clarity, to be, in the end, so isolate and inadequate. Even when people try to say things, they say them poorly or obliquely, or they outright lie, sometimes because they're lying to you, but as often because they're lying to themselves.
Claire MessudIโm not a writing group member, not a joiner in that way. I donโt seek a wide swath of feedback.
Claire MessudThat's so her. You know, torn between Big Ideas and a party. She's always been that way.
Claire Messud